


The Dread Pirates

by ThefirstRanger



Category: The Brotherband Chronicles - John Flanagan
Genre: Brotherband au, Character Death, Gen, Only Lydia and Edvin survive, Pirates, au where Lydia and Edvin become dread pirates, not really angsty but it's a little sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 09:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21425833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThefirstRanger/pseuds/ThefirstRanger
Summary: Lydia and Edvin are the only Herons left after attacking Zavac. The Andomal is gone, they don't know what to do, and they can't go back to Hallasholm so they decide to become pirates and track down the Andomal themselves.
Kudos: 8





	The Dread Pirates

The story starts the same, with a stolen treasure and an exile. The Herons leave Skandia and meet Lydia. They go after Zavac, but they are too late. There’s a delay in Krall and the Herons are just a little too late when they get to Raguza. Zavac has already sold the Andomal for a ridiculous amount of money to a black market dealer who sailed immediately away. The Herons don’t know this and when they battle Zavac, they expect to get the Andomal back. The battle takes its toll. Zavac is killed, but so are most of the Herons. Some die in battle, Wulf, Jesper, Stig, Ingvar, and Thorn, and Edvin is comforted that they died with a weapon in hand. Some die when the Heron goes down, Ulf, Stefan, and Hal drown with the Heron. Hal couldn’t leave his ship and got knocked unconscious by the falling mast. Stefan and Ulf held Hal for as long as they could, treading water, but it wasn’t enough. Kloof went down with the Heron, but somehow she survived. She joins Edvin and Lydia on their journey. Edvin and Lydia survived only by sheer luck. Lydia had been in a tree, slinging her darts and taking Zavac’s men down. Edvin had fallen down from an injury and people completely missed him until Lydia spotted him and dragged Edvin out of the battle as they both hid in the treetops. Lydia was shaking and Edvin is barely conscious. Lydia knows some first aid, but Edvin has to direct her in how to stitch him up and take care of him. It’s one of the most harrowing things he’s ever done. Edvin is still recuperating when Lydia sneaks them to the rowboat, so she starts to row back to Skandia, thinking maybe they’ll let Edvin and her in after beating Zavac. 

Lydia and Edvin row back to Skandia in a dinky little two person sailboat that they “liberated” from a few pirates. There’s not quite enough room with the two of them and Kloof in there. As they approach Hallasholm, Lydia quietly asks Edvin if she should tell his family and the rest of the Heron’s families about them. Edvin hesitates. He knows that letting the families know would bring them equal grief and comfort, closure and loss. But he also knows how powerful hope is and how hope can bring change. He tells Lydia to keep quiet. She goes to argue but he says in almost a whisper, “They’ll have started to forget us already.” That’s the diabolical part of Skandian exile; it’s not just from Skandian land, but from Skandian memories. Citizens aren’t allowed to name the exiled out loud and talk of them is discouraged. Lydia is furious. How could a nation do something like this? And to teens? Edvin merely shrugs. It’s tradition. Lydia wants to tell everyone but she keeps quiet. In her silence, she stews over the injustices the Herons faced and vows to do something about it. Lydia is overflowing with righteous anger and she needs to do something or pick a course of action soon or she’ll explode. 

Lydia is the only Heron to step foot in Skandia after beating Zavac. She's a stranger so people distrust her. Memories of Zavac are still fresh in people’s minds. Edvin has given her a detailed description of Tursgurd and Erak- not that she probably needed one since anyone could have pointed her to Erak. Lydia finds Tursgurd in a pub by the sea front, boasting and drinking surrounded by so called friends. Anger clouds her vision at the sight of the bully and one second later, Tursgurd is knocked out cold on the ground. Lydia exits and stalks off to find Erak. There’s a reckoning coming. She tears into Erak for exiling the Herons and is the first person in a year to say the Heron’s names. Lydia disappears and soon people forget about the strange girl who defended the Herons. They have to. Lydia disappears into the forest and is picked up by Edvin in a small rocky beach by a cliff. The two of them sail off into the unknown. 

Lydia isn’t a natural sailor, but it’s amazing what people can do when strongly motivated. Edvin is no Hal, but he does the best he can do. Edvin steps up and so does Lydia. His analytical mind pairs well with her cunning and sense of justice. They know what they are trying to do is foolish and will almost certainly fail and lead to their deaths, but they don’t care. They have to do something. Lydia and Edvin decide to become pirates, or at least their own version of pirates. Steal from corrupt people and search for the Andomal, but never steal treasures like the Andomal. They’ll be the scourge of the seas, but fair ones. Pirates have access to different parts of markets that regular traders don’t and the Andomal is most certainly not going to be on the normal market. 

Years pass and people in Hallasholm forget about the Andomal. They can't completely of course, but the details start to get blurry. Names get forgotten and details blur. The families of the Herons move away. The memories are too much or it's in vain hope that they will see their boys again outside of Skandia. Karina and Hannah stay. Hannah wouldn’t have stayed if Karina hadn’t stayed. Hannah knew, mothers always know, Stig was dead. She hated it, of course she did. She wanted her not so little boy back, but now she had nothing to keep her in Skandia except for Karina. Karina was resolute in staying in Hallasholm. Let Erak deal with his guilt every time he sees me she says. Skandia has not been kind to Karina, it has taken so much from her but she is not leaving. Other families leave. Almost immediately, Ulf and Wulf’s mother leaves for Araluen, the common meeting place for families to meet their exiled loved ones. Jesper’s been an orphan most of his life, but his small band of friends dedicate any trouble they make, especially when it inconveniences Erak, to Jesper. Edvin’s parents hold out, hoping, but they are older and grief eats away at them until nothing is left. Ingvar’s parents, Wiglaf and Ingithora, along with his sister Ingunn stay in Hallasholm, fighting for the restructuring of the brotherband competition and other traditions around Hallasholm.

They have no Mangler but they whip up weapons. A version of the Mangler comes later when they have more resources. They get a crew at a small port somewhere, they don’t care, and ask no questions. The crew soon learns not to ask questions as well. The crew is no Herons nor is the boat a Heron, but it’s all they have to work with. Edvin vaguely remembers how the Heron was set up and he and a shipbuilder spend many hours trying to recreate the Heron’s sails and shape. 

Lydia takes to pirating pretty naturally and Edvin is a bit hesitant at first, but he was raised on tales of dastardly pirates and there’s a reason Skandians are known across the seas as feared raiders. 

It's rough sailing but they make it work. They check every shop, ship, and person they encounter for the Andomal. It's been passed from Zavac's hands so many times, one would think it would easy to intercept, but it's not. The Andomal has disappeared without a trace. 

A famed pirate duo emerges and Skandians hear about it. The duo is said to be notoriously hard on Skandian raiders, with the duo rarely showing mercy. Oddly enough, the pirate duo is also very hard on certain pirates. Pirates who are crueler than necessary and take more than they should (relatively of course). The dread pirates also are said to have tamed a wolf that comes into battle with them. Lydia and Edvin agree that while Skandians won’t recognize Lydia, people are going to recognize Edvin despite the exile. So the duo comes up with new names for their pirating endeavors- the dread pirates Gunnar and Yrsa. They use these names the most, but frequently change them. The first time someone asks Edvin for his name, he blurts out “My name is Hal” and immediately winces. Decades later, Edvin has made his peace with using his friend’s names-he thinks that they would be amused by it, especially Ulf, Wulf, and Stefan. 

Lydia and Edvin start to become a nuisance and the Skandian people decide to do something about it. Hallasholm sends some of its crews to deal with the duo and Lydia and Edvin grin. The Sharks, incompetent and odious as they are, get sent first. The duo takes pleasure in sinking their ship. One shark survives- Pedra. He joins the duo, not knowing who they truly are. Skandia has abandoned Pedra and he knows that he can’t go back. He was never exiled, but there’s a feeling deep in his bones that he has to join Lydia and Edvin. It’s a form of mercy that Lydia thinks Ingvar would like and Hal would find funny. They end up trusting Pedra with their real identities and he rises up in the ranks, redeeming himself. He becomes the battlemaster and third in command. Pedra wants to see the Andomal returned just as much as Edvin and Lydia do. After the Shark debacle, Rollond and his crew are sent out. They don't get sunk like the Sharks do, but they do come out of their encounter with Lydia and Edvin as losers and determined to hunt the duo down. Rolland has also fallen desperately in love with the mysterious pirate woman but that's only a minor issue. After the Wolves come back, rumors swirl around that the Herons, the Sharks, and the Wolves were all cursed. Rollond is determined to prove that his brotherband wasn’t cursed and rises up in crews and rank.

Rolland becomes the Oberjarl sixteen years after the Herons are exiled. Erak is too old to keep up with all the duties and Rollond is the best choice. He’s one of the youngest Oberjarls ever, but he is respected throughout Hallasholm and Skandia. He’s also still madly in love with the mysterious pirate woman who has taken to destroying certain wolf ships, but that’s a minor bump in the road. Lydia and Edvin, against all odds, have become recognized pirates who are some of the most feared sailing on the seven seas. 

One time, which Rolland will deny to his last breath, he was in battle with the pirate ship and could be heard trying to propose to the pirate woman. She denies him and only he and Dell know of the incident. Dell occasionally teases Rollond about this proposal and insinuates that they only reason Rollond wants to catch these pirates is that Rollond can see Lydia again. This isn’t true, but it makes Rollond blush and stammer, so it may be a part of his reasoning.

People eventually catch wind of a dreaded pirate duo that is hunting the Andomal and the object gets passed with frightening intensity, popping in and out of ports in a matter of weeks, until Lydia and Edvin corner it at a seedy portmaster’s office countries away and retake what is theirs. Too much blood has been spilled for the Andomal. It is time to go back to Skandia. Lydia and Edvin has a heated discussion of how they want to return the Andomal. A decision is made and they head off.

Decades after, when Erak is no longer Oberjarl, people have forgotten the names of Hallasholm’s biggest regrets, and grieving families moved away, two figures appear in Skandia on a strange boat. The boat has an uncommon sail and is much smaller than a normal ship. It brings up memories for the older folks in the town and Oberjarl Rollond squints his eyes and remembers a time when he sailed against a similar boat decades ago. A crowd draws near the edge of the water on the sand as the boat docks and two figures jump onto the sand. 

One has a grizzled beard and wears an eyepatch just as easily as he wears a lumpy knitted cap. He looks like a cross between a pirate and everyone’s favorite uncle, smiling with an ease that only slightly seems forced. The other is a solemn cold looking woman who looks around Hallasholm in a weird mixture of remembrance, confusion, and mostly disgust. She could be carved out of rock for all the emotion she shows. Rollond approaches them and strikes up conversation with the two. They tell him that they are traders from Limmat who have always wanted to visit Skandia. Rollond likes the two visitors; they seem very interested in Hallasholm and is delighted when they mention that want to look around. The woman reminds Rollond of his love and the man reminds Rollond of an old peer, but he dismisses those thoughts. Mere coincidences. After taking a quick tour around town, Edbjorn and Lydie, as they introduced themselves, ask Rollond if they could meet the old Oberjarl. Rollond is surprised that they know of Erak and finds it a little weird, but Lydie spreads her hands out and smiles winningly, explaining that they had Skandian friends who told them tales of Erak and gave them a gift to give to him. Rollond can’t resist and goes to tell Erak that someone wants to meet him. Waving goodbye to the duo, Rollond doesn’t notice that Edbjorn is leading Lydie down a mostly forgotten path like he knows every part of Hallasholm like the back of his own hand. Rollond also didn’t notice how Edbjorn had avoided eye contact with people during the tour. If Rollond hadn’t noticed that Edbjorn had slipped away during the tour to inquire about an old couple that used to live here and came back with watery eyes, no one could blame him.

When Edvin and Lydia are alone on the path to the Andomal where Pedra is meeting them with the Andomal, they let out a sigh. No one seemed to recognize them. It was not the Skandia they remembered and they were foreign to it now. Edvin no longer fit into Hallasholm and he doubted that Hallasholm would fit him now. 

Pedra awaits them at the memorial with the covered Andomal. They are continuing this charade just a while more. The trio hears noise down the main path and Pedra melts into the forest. He’ll get the boat ready to sail off at a moment’s notice, but not before stopping by a few certain houses to give letters to certain families. The letters can’t contain everything, but they contain enough to give Hannah and Karina closure and information on how to track down Edvin and Lydia for more information.

Rollond enters the slightly overgrown clearing with Erak and his goddaughter Winfredia. Erak is old and close to bedridden, too many battles when he was younger, but he wants to meet with these traders who have a gift for him. Winfredia, named after her great great aunt, came along to curb her suspicions and to provide some muscle in case this was a trick.

They stop at the edge of the clearing and see a large round orb with a claw in it sitting on a crumbling memorial. The two traders step out of the shadows and Erak is overcome with shock. He never thought he would see the Andomal again. Rollond stops dead in his tracks and Winfredia’s hand has started to slip towards her sword. The Andomal is back, brought back by foreigners who never should have hard about the Andomal.

Erak can’t speak, he’s so overcome, and so Rollond asks how they knew how to return the Andomal and the pair exchanges a glance, loaded with meaning. "We had...some Skandian friends who told us about their missing treasure. It resounded deeply with us and when we saw it, we knew we had to return it." Lydia plays up her Limmatan accent and Edvin copies her. He feels a twinge of pain as he remembers his best friend mimicking everyone perfectly. Edvin's learned a few skills over the years. He shoots Rollond a wry smile and he’s sure that his mixed emotions are showing on his face.

Erak’s found his voice and starts bombarding the traders with questions. They give vague answers, something Erak does not care about. The Andomal is back. Rollond and Winfredia pick up on the vagueness and for the first time, Rollond gets the feeling that the traders aren’t telling him the whole truth. The traders seem to pick up on that and start wrapping things up. Erak offers them compensation, but they refuse any reward.

There's a brief tickle of recognition in the back of Erak's mind as he starts to put things together. He swears he's seen both of these people before. The pair goes to leave but not before warning about pirates in the area. Apparently they had seen some pirates on the horizon. Rollond goes to escort them back and Erak realizes that he never asked them their names and the woman responds "Lydia," The name doesn't ring a bell but Erak swears that he knows her. The man takes a longer time to answer, like he's debating or making up his mind. He finally answers "My name is Edbjorn.” The group is at the edge of the water, the crowd cleared away. 

Erak can’t hear the answer properly and asks “Edvin?” Rollond froze. Why did Erak have to be hard of hearing? He really hoped that the blunder wouldn’t offend the traders. Rollond wanted them to come back; he enjoyed their company and they would be national heroes with the return of the Andomal. Lydie and Edbjorn exchange looks as they enter on their ship. 

“Actually, yes.” Rollond and Winfredia look at each other, confused and suspicious. Lydie and Edbjorn had just given the wrong names. Something was up.

Erak thought hard. Edvin. Edvin, like the Edvin of the Heron brotherband that was exiled so many years ago? It had to be him. But someone had told him that Edvin was dead. But that would explain why he thought he recognized the man. Come to think of it, it was a girl from Limmat who had told him the Herons were dead. The woman Edvin was with, Lydia... Lydia was the lady who had confronted him so many years ago about the Heron's deaths. 

Edvin and Lydia could see the realization dawning in Erak’s eyes and the suspicion in Winfredia and Rollond’s. Lydia smirked and turned away. 

“My name is Edvin and it’s also Edbjorn. It’s also Gunnar the dread pirate.” With a wink, Edvin leaped on deck and the ship started to move. Pedra’s head popped up and Rollond recognized another long thought dead peer. Winfredia had already started calling for a crew, but Edvin and Lydia’s ship was too fast and too far away already. 

Rollond scratched his head and turned to Erak. Erak was crying silently and Rollond didn’t know what to do. Eventually Erak wiped away his salty tears and straightened up as much as he could. 

Under his breath, Erak muttered “I never thought I’d see one of them return.” Rollond had to agree. 

A thought suddenly struck Rollond and the true implications of the day come staggering down on him. The Andomal had returned. Two of his long thought dead friends were alive. The aforementioned friends were pirates. The lady with Edvin was also a pirate. Wait, thought Rollond. If Edvin is Gunnar, then Lydia must be Yrsa. A chuckle escaped his lips; he couldn’t help it. He was so close to stopping the dread pirates. The chuckle turns into full blown laughter and the residents of Hallasholm look on in bewilderment as their former and current oberjarls roll around in the sand, holding their sides. 

Back on their ship, Lydia and Edvin meet by the prow, staring up at the sky. 

“You did it.” Lydia smiled at Edvin. She couldn’t imagine what he felt right now. He looked at her and smiled. 

“No, we did it.” Lydia smiled back, tears in her eyes. They had done it. They had returned the Andomal and avenged the memory of the Herons. People would remember them again. Hal, Stig, Thorn, Ulf, Wulf, Steafn, Ingvar, and Jesper. Their names would soar again. Pedra came by and tears were in his eyes as well. They had done it. 

“What happens next?” asked Pedra. Whatever would happen, he would follow Lydia and Edvin. The dread pirates would decide his future.

Lydia was the one who answered, confident and strong. She knew that Rollond knew about them and she looked forward to seeing him again. “Whatever we want.” 

Edvin and Pedra smiled as a flock of herons flew across the sky. Their mission was done and there was peace at last.


End file.
